Posts Tagged ‘Porsche Hybrid’

Porsche showed the potential for battery power with its 918 Spyder - but may now go pure battery-electric.

Porsche may become the latest automaker to enter the high-performance electric vehicle market – and to take on battery-carmaker Tesla Motors.

The German sports car company already has introduced several hybrid and plug-in models, but it is considering a purely battery-based option, its chief executive suggested during the company’s annual meeting.

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“In the not-too-distant future, we will present a seventh model line,” said CEO Matthias Mueller, noting the goal is to have an additional product line in showrooms by 2020. “There are already promising plans,” he added, “but no board decision yet.”

Porsche is rapidly expanding its line-up of plug-ins with the launch of the Cayenne S E-Hybrid.

It may best be known for its high-performance sports cars and SUVs, but Porsche is building up an impressive fleet of new battery-based vehicles, including the new Cayenne S E-Hybrid it will debut at the Paris Motor Show next week – its third plug-in hybrid model.

With the launch of the extended-range Cayenne, Porsche will become the only automaker in the world currently offering three different plug-in models, and the only manufacturer marketing one in the luxury SUV segment.

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The 2015 Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid will share the stage in Paris with the Panamera S E-Hybrid and Porsche’s 918 Spyder, the first plug-in “ultracar.” The maker also produces more traditional gas-electric hybrid models.

Volkswagen experiments with the use of hub motors on a concept version of its Chinese Bora sedan.

Volkswagen is teaming up with Protean Electric, a promising battery-car technology supplier, to test a new system that could dramatically alter the way vehicles are designed and built.

The German maker is testing Protean’s hub motor technology on its Bora sedan, the Chinese version of the VW Jetta. The project could lead to a production model in the next few years, though the partners aren’t currently revealing specific plans.

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One of the potential benefits of electric propulsion is that the space under a car’s hood can be freed up, a vehicle’s motor – or motors – moved to other locations, such as replacing the traditional center differential. Protean’s approach is to move the motors to inside a vehicle’s wheels.

Porsche is charged up about the opportunities for its new plug-in hybrid, the 2014 Panamera S-E, with sales forecast to nearly double those of the conventional hybrid model it will replace.

The S-E is one of 10 different versions of the 2014 Porsche Panamera – nine of which the maker plans to offer in the United States. With its lithium-ion battery pack, the new S-E model will be able to go an estimated 22 miles per charge while operating in battery-only mode at speeds up to 84 mph.

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But unlike other plug-ins currently on the market, there’s no real trade-off in performance, the coupe-like sedan launching from 0 to 60 in 5.2 seconds, according to Porsche.

“It’s a real Porsche, and a Porsche must go really fast,” even if it is powered by batteries, said Stefan Utsch, director of sales and marketing for the Panamera line.

With sales slipping to two-decade lows in recent months, the European automotive market has come unplugged – which may be why brands as diverse as BMW, Volkswagen and Porsche are hoping to charge things up with the many hybrids, plug-ins and battery-electric vehicles making their debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show this week.

Manufacturers see a number of potential benefits from electric propulsion, especially in a market where regular unleaded gasoline is going for the equivalent of more than $9 a gallon in some market. The technology also will prove critical if makers hope to meet Europe’s increasingly stringent restrictions on CO2 emissions – a particularly tough challenge for high-line manufacturer like Mercedes-Benz, which will introduce a new plug-in version of its big S-Class sedan at the Frankfurt show.

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The range of new battery-based offerings will be “all over the map,” suggested Stephanie Brinley, an industry analyst with IHS Automotive – from the little Volkswagen e-Golf to the plug-in diesel hybrid being introduced by Land Rover for its flagship Range Rover SUV. (more…)

Porsche puts the emphasis on supercar performance with its new 918 Spyder.

For those who think battery-based vehicles are, by nature, slow and boring, the new Porsche 918 Spyder plug-in supercar could deliver a shocking surprise.

True, the carbon-fiber 918 is expected to yield significant improvements in fuel efficiency – and about 18 miles per charge on its lithium-ion battery pack, but it will also launch from 0 to 60 in less than 2.8 seconds. A Chevrolet Volt it definitely isn’t.

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The new supercar “demonstrates the potential of the hybrid drive to a degree never seen before: the parallel improvement of both efficiency and performance without one being at the cost of the other,” says Porsche, which first revealed a prototype of the 918 several years ago and is launching the production version this week.

It’s still a benchmark brand when it comes to sports cars but Porsche has shown an increasing readiness to defy expectations, whether it’s launching the Cayenne SUV, the 4-door Panamera or – just a few weeks from now – its first plug-in hybrid.

While the 918 hybrid supercar is still nearly a half year away from production, Porsche will have other plug-in news for the upcoming Shanghai Motor Show – the new Panamera S E-Hybrid.

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Largely based on the basic gas-electric drivetrain first introduced on the Porsche Panamera S Hybrid two years ago, the plug-in version will reportedly deliver “greater than 20 miles” of pure electric driving range and speeds of up to 84 mph before its twin-turbocharged V-6 kicks in.

Porsche has claimed overall victory at LeMans 16 times, but not since 1998.

It’s already taken the checkered flag more than any other maker, but Porsche says it will try for one more, revealing plans to return to the grueling 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2014.

The maker isn’t providing much detail, but says it will campaign an all-new LMP1 race car when it heads back out on the long Le Mans circuit. It will be Porsche’s first race there after its formal merger with Volkswagen AG. And it could bring out some intriguing new technology, insiders hint, considering the maker’s increasing interest in hybrid power.

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But the decision to return to Le Mans means that Porsche will likely be going up against at least one other VW brand, Audi, which has been dominating the global endurance racing scene, in recent years, with its various diesel-powered monsters. Audi’s latest, the R18, overwhelmed the field yet again, this year, giving the Ingollstadt maker its 10th overall victory Le Mans.

When the subject is green machines you’ll often hear the topic turn to “payback period,” the time it takes to recover the added cost of an alternative drivetrain through the money you’ll save on fuel.

When it comes to the new Porsche 918 Spyder, the German maker’s first plug-in hybrid, you’ll have to count the payback period in centuries – but then again, how many buyers will really be buying the high-performance sports car just because it saves a few gallons of gas?

More than a year after the 918 Spyder made its show-stopping debut at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, Porsche has confirmed the design will be going into production – with an asking price of $845,000. That will make the Porsche 918 Spyder the world’s most expensive environmentally-friendly automobile, unless you consider some of the Formula One designs using hybrid power-assist systems.

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For your money, you’ll get a 500-horsepower V8 that’s paired with twin electric motors – one mounted at each axle – kicking in another 218 hp. Lithium-ion batteries help capture energy normally lost during braking or coasting, though like the much more mundane Chevrolet Volt, the 918 Spyder can be plugged in when parked, and will yield up to 16 miles running on pure electric power.

Recharge times will run about seven hours using 110v wall current, and less than half that relying on a dedicated 220-volt charger.

Porsche's 918 RSR race car will use a hybrid powertrain to give it a track edge.

“There’s no replacement for displacement,” goes the old automotive adage, and nowhere has that approach carried more weight than in the luxury market, where big V8s and V12s are the norm, rather than the exception.

At least until now. But with U.S. regulators looking at a 62 mpg CAFE standard and even tougher restrictions likely to go into effect in Europe, luxury makers like Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Bentley are looking to downsize their powertrain line-up.

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The trend is already apparent in the mainstream of luxury models, where four-cylinder gas and small turbocharged diesels have become as much the norm as the exception. But the shift is beginning to take hold in even the most performance-oriented models, such as those produced by Ferrari, Bentley and Mercedes’ AMG division. (more…)